Free Business Strategy Lesson for Funeral Managers

As promised, I was able to pull in a favor – and I know that you will enjoy it and also find it very useful.  Join me and Brent Mainprize, Ph.D., as we walk you through step by step how to perform a strategic analysis on your company.

Topic: Business Analysis Tools for Funeral Home Managers

You can listen to the recording, but you must register by going to:

www.FuneralManagerSecrets.com

We demonstrate how to apply the following business analysis tools to the funeral industry:

1. PEDST Analysis to look at external factors: Political, Economic, Demographic, Social, and Technological
2. Five Forces of Competition analyzes: Power of Buyers, Power of Suppliers, Threat of New Entrants, Threat of Substitutes, and Competitive Rivalry (you vs. the funeral home down the street)
3. SWOT Analysis will look internally at your: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Then you will have all you need to leap ahead of your competition.

Register now and receive the Strategy Guide in advance so that you and your management team can use this as a brainstorming session or as a benchmark for your ongoing Strategic Plan.

www.FuneralManagerSecrets.com

Unfortunately, the training that we funeral directors receive from mortuary school doesn’t teach us to be funeral strategists. I found myself in the same position, but in our market – high cremation, highly competitive market with discounters and memorial societies – I felt that I needed some business strategy education right away.  So I went back to university and received my business degree in Entrepreneurial Management. The greatest skill that I learned in the entire program was how to use some Strategic Analysis Tools. Instead of you having to go back to university for an MBA, I want to share with you these tools and how they can be applied to your own funeral operations in your own market.

Dr. Mainprize holds a Doctorate in Entrepreneurship, is an internationally renowned professor who lectures to business owners about the strength of their business model and will share with you what strategies you can use to separate you from your competitors.

During this teleseminar you will learn how to apply these 3 KEY ANALYSIS tools to take you from a high overview look at factors that affect our industry and your market and then laser-focus in on your firm and start to differentiate you from your competition.

I hope that you can join Dr. Mainprize and me for the free teleseminar. Register right now . . .

www.FuneralManagerSecrets.com

. . . Hep

PS: Feel free to forward this invitation to your friends and collegues in funeral service

Funeral Discussion Forum now open

Would you like a place to discuss issues that you are dealing with at your funeral home or cemetery?

Even though there are different places on the Internet where conversations are taking place, I wanted to create a place where members of the funeral industry and the public could come to learn about and share different issues that we face.

This discussion board will be free from ads and spammy posts – I want this to be as pure of a discussion as possible. Please note that blatant sales pitches and linking campaigns will not be tolerated. Posts will be removed that are deem to cross the line. Let’s make this a place for great discussion and even debate so that we can all benefit from each other’s knowledge and ultimately better serve our client families.

www.FuneralFuturist.com/forum

Watch the introductory video so that you can see how to sign up to the forum and start using the discussion board.
Read more

Be A Funeral Market Strategist (and leave your competition in the dust)

I received some great comments and questions about my “Competition” article – thank you! First, many of the issues funeral home owners and managers are unique to your specific market and situation so I cannot offer a blanket answer that everyone could benefit from. The issue was followed by the questions, “How do I fix this?” or “What should I do?”

As I always do in situations to solve problems, I reflected on the process that I have used many times in my home market that is very competitive plus is on the forefront of changing trends. In this type of market – and any market – you need to have a process to deal with issues and make decisions easily and with confidence.

By the nature of how we join funeral service, either as a calling to serve, or following in family footsteps, we rarely get taught how to think strategically. Strategy isn’t taught in mortuary colleges and the issues we face today – like increasing cremation rates, price discounters, memorial societies, and the Internet – were not big issues to the generations before us. Especially in our market where no-one had experience in dealing with these issues before – I decided that I had to go back to university and learn how professionals solve problems in other industries and then apply those methods to funeral service.

Although formal education was a great experience, what has really stuck with me was what I learned as a member of the “Case Competition” team. In a nutshell, a team of four would be given 3 hours to read and analyze a business case study and present our recommendations. Since you were “on stage” at the end of the 3 hours, I really learned to hone my strategic thinking with “tools” that made up my Business Strategy Toolkit.

At this point I could just tell you hire me to tackle your issues in a one-on-one scenario – and of course for those who wish that personal consultation I will make myself available – I also want to teach all of you “How to Fish” instead of selling you fish.

Whatever causes you the most pain – tough competition, price shoppers, losing calls, cremation families, memorial societies, expensive marketing – these tools can give can give you an competitive advantage for just a small investment of your time. So here we go – these are some of the tools that I use on a daily basis to solve clients’ problems. The three that I recommend to get started with are the Environmental Scan, Porter’s Five Forces, and the SWOT Analysis.

The Environmental Scan (sometimes referred to as PEST Analysis) looks at external factors: Political, Economic, Social, and Technological. Then Porter’s Five Forces of Competition analyzes: Power of Buyers, Power of Suppliers, Threat of New Entrants, Threat of Substitutes, and Competitive Rivalry. Then having a solid strategic framework of your market, you then look internally with a SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Then you will have all you need to leap ahead of your competition.

Don’t worry if this seems too overwhelming, I will put together a demonstration next week using funeral industry examples. Also, I will try to pull in a favor and get another expert on the line with me and we will go through step by step through the process as it relates to us.

If you would like to have your company profiled for the example – at absolutely no charge to you, please click the link below and provide me with some basic information. Then I will be in touch to get some additional information. Be assured that your identity will be kept confidential.

Apply for the analysis of your market and company, click here and fill out the form:

http://www.funeralfuturist.com/application-for-strategic-analysis/

Thank you for your time and look for my newsletter next week for the details of the “Funeral Industry and Competitive Analysis” free training session.

10 Golden Rules gets 10 out of 10

Jay Berkowitz and his team at “10 Golden Rules of Internet Marketing” do a great job in laying out practical advise in an easy to follow format. I have referred back to specific podcasts as well as the show notes when I need to take my blog (I mean, website) and podcast (I mean, online radio) to the next level. If this is the first time hearing about 10 Golden Rules, I would recommend to download all of the episodes – within one day you will have taken a crash course in Podcasting and Internet Marketing and will have a great grasp of what you need. Visit Jay’s site at www.TenGoldenRules.com or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: itpc://feeds.feedburner.com/10goldenrules

Check out Jay’s video about “Ten Free or Low Cost Ways to Use the Internet to Help Your Business in Down Times.” Even though not all of these suggestions may apply to your funeral home or cemetery, let them open your mind to the possibilities of connecting to your client families and community.

Ideas for marketing on the internet include:

• Maximize web site traffic by using Free Search Engine Optimization techniques
• Create a FREE Offer on your site to get leads
• Measure the cost to acquire a lead and a sale
• Learn from the competition by using Competitive Intelligence Tools
• Take advantage of FREE Internet products like Google Optimizer to improve conversion on your web site
• Generate greater awareness for your business or product by using Free or low cost Internet Press Releases
• Develop an eNewsletter
• Create a virtual internet sales force using Affiliate Marketing
• Build your company’s position on high traffic Social Media
• Cut out the middle man by selling direct

What are your thoughts about what Jay had to say? Please leave your comments below.

Being Strategic about your competition with Brad Scott

On this show, Brad Scott, manager of R.S. Kane Funeral Home in Toronto, Ontario, has an open discussion about competition from both a independent and corporate perspective. Click the Play button at the left of the silver bar > Read more

Greening of Funerals – Panel Discussion

June 6, 2008, Niagara Falls, Ontario

Robin Heppell moderated a panel discussion about the “Greening of Funerals” at the Funeral Service Association of Canada’s Annual Convention. Panel members are Dave Erb (funeral sector), Erb & Good Funeral Home, Kitchener, Ontario, Caley Ferguson (supplier sector), Northern Casket, Lindsay, Ontario, and Paul Taylor (cemetery sector), Woodlawn Memorial Park, Guelph, Ontario.

To listen to the presentation below, press the PLAY button.

Greening of Funerals panel discussion at the FSAC Annual Convention

It’s Not the Funeral Product Industry!

When did it happen? Has the funeral SERVICE profession always been product focused? I think a long time ago, 25+ years ago – during the good ol’ days of unit pricing- caskets were always part of the success equation but not as much as a focal point (business wise) as they have been as late. I believe that we can blame the government! Well, it isn’t their fault completely, but when it came down that all funeral services and merchandise had to be itemized on the Goods and Services contract, monies had to be attributed to the various components.

Did the merchandisers at that time come up with The Plan? “If we get the funeral home operators to attribute a good portion of the dollars from the Unit-Price total to the product, then the product would become a very important part of the financial success equation.” Whether they did or not we are left with under-price service offerings and over-priced merchandise. Another contributing factor could be the structure of Memorial Societies’ packages. Usually they target service fees, thus driving down those prices. This leaves merchandise as the one thing that funeral homes could supplement the decreased returns on their service offerings.

The Funeral Arrangement Lottery
Upon the completion of every arrangement, when the manager or owner looks over the contract, there is an uncontrollable force that draws the eyes to Merchandise column, bringing feelings of glee or melancholy. Solid copper, inlayed mahogany – instant margins are calculated in one’s head and it’s a good day! With the current pricing structure, it would be more profitable to have families select a cherry casket with immediate cremation than a cloth covered lift lid with a traditional funeral. Maybe it should be called the Funeral Product Industry. I apologize if this strikes a chord, but if the sale of merchandise is what gets you excited, it’s going to be a glum future.

Reality Check
The Pollara Report spells it out quite simply, consumers value funeral merchandise the least! For those who may not have seen the results, please see them below. Coupled with this sentiment from the public, they also told us repeatedly that they feel costs are too expensive. In addition, Canadians surveyed stated that the No. 1 reason for preferring cremation is that it is less expensive.

Value of Products and Services (10 point rating scale)

• Professional services such as embalming, conducting the funeral, visitations, & the receptions (7.1)
• Out-of-pocket expenses including flowers, notices in the newspaper / memorial cards, clergy & church fees (6.5)
• Cemetery property, including plots, niches or crypts (6.5)
• Transportation such as a hearse, limo or other car (6.4)
• Memorials such as bronze markers / granite headstones (6.3)
• Caskets (5.6)
• Urns (5.6)
• Vaults (4.2)

Impressions of Funeral Industry

• Funerals are too elaborate, prefer a service that was simple & cost effective: Agree – 78%, Disagree – 16%, Don’t Know – 6%
• Funerals cost too much, industry should be regulated: Agree – 71%, Disagree – 17%, Don’t Know – 12%

Reasons for Preferring Cremation

• No. 1 Reason: Cremation is less expensive – 23%

Source: Pollara Report, March 2004

There could be two reasons for this response. Either we are not communicating the value of all of our offerings (both services and products) or they are not seeing any value in anything we offer! The merchandise suppliers obviously supply funeral homes with “product knowledge” but who should be supplying the “service knowledge?” The one who creates it of course – the funeral home! Do you provide your staff equal amounts of service knowledge as compared to product knowledge? How are your services presented? In many instances it doesn’t take long for the “service presentation” to become product focused. “Mrs. Jones, the difference between a funeral service and a memorial service is that the …” Gee, didn’t they tell us that they do not value caskets and now we have just tied our most profitable service offering to something that doesn’t have a perceived value.

Is this the slippery slope? So the consumers have a low perceived value of funeral products, they tell us that funerals are too expensive – with the casket being the biggest ticket item, then we try offering our services where the definition of a funeral is dependant of the presence of a casket, and the number one reason for the preference of cremation is that it is less expensive. Is all of this just a coincidence?

We must realize that the rest of the world does not have the love affair that we as funeral professionals do over merchandise. For myself, I definitely want a solid maple casket placed in a double-reinforced copper vault, but we cannot assume that the public will be as passionate about funeral products as we are. Furthermore, we didn’t have to wait for the Pollara Report to tell us – the public has been telling us for years.

As previously suggested, cost is not the primary driver of impressions of the funeral industry, however, it remains an important consideration as a majority of Canadians who have yet to arrange a funeral believe that it is an expensive endeavour.  This perception is compounded by the fact that Canadians do not appear to attribute significant value to funeral products and services, beyond the professional assistance they would receive on the front line.  With the trend toward simplicity evident across all demographic cohorts, this value defines what future funeral clients will be searching for, for themselves and for their loved-ones.

Source: Pollara Report, March 2004

If we have been successful in educating our families that Funerals equals Caskets, and they do not see the value in Caskets, then what are they telling us when they say, “I don’t want to have a funeral.”?

This is not the fault of the manufacturers; they are just conveying their message to their customers (the funeral homes) very well – offering product knowledge in the form of seminars, print, Internet, etc. Are you spending as much time educating your staff and communicating to your customers the benefits of your offerings as the manufacturers provide to you about theirs?

The Solution

• Align your service and product offerings (and the manner in which they are conveyed) with what your customer values – if they are not product focused nor should you be
• Reformat your pricing by shifting some margin from merchandise to services
• Invest in training and equipping your staff with knowledge to properly present your service offerings

The Effect
By lowering your merchandise prices you will:

• Further the cause of strengthening the relationship with your customer as they will feel that they are not being forced to purchase something that they feel is over priced
• Be able to inform price shoppers that you have the least expensive merchandise in town
• Reduce the probability of third-party merchandisers (casket & urn stores, Internet casket & urn website, cemeteries, etc.) having an impact on your merchandise sales
• Encourage families to purchase higher quality products, which will convey a positive message to others attending the service.
  • Friend: “Gee, Martha that looks like an expensive casket you got for your husband.”
  • Window: “Actually, not really, it was quite reasonable.”
• Be able to reply to the cynic who says, “You funeral directors jack up the prices by two or three times wholesale!” “No we don’t.”

The Path to Get There

It is all well and good to tell you to raise your service fees and lower your merchandise prices, however it would not be right on my part to put this idea in your head and then leave you out on your own. This transition is easier said than done and if it isn’t well planned out, it could be disastrous to your business. You will need to be prepared to be able to justify your service fees – but I will leave that up to you as you are the experts of your offerings and of your community. Once mastering the communication of the value of your services, one option to help this transition is to create funeral packages for each of your service offerings. There are more complex pricing strategies available but by following the packaging model, you will be able to transition the service / product pricing structure easier, increase average funeral values, and provide more value to your families.

The intension of this article is not to bash the manufacturers of funeral merchandise but to convey to the funeral home operators that they must align their strategies and offerings with those of their customers. And if this alignment is successful, the consumers will be more apt to purchase products as they should have a higher perceived value of then which in turn will increase merchandise sales, and also make the merchandise suppliers happy!

So, who is going to be the first in town to have the lowest priced merchandise? Maybe the one with the new competitive advantage.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Am I bang on or out to lunch? Please leave your comments below.